The family of James Allen 1769-1820

 I've been writing these "family of" posts for several months now, and this is the first family I've come across with only one of the children fairly well documented on line.  The other children were mysteries when I started preparing this post.  I have found a little about some of them and want to get this information out there, in it's current state of being unfinished, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  I hope to find some new cousins by doing this, or at least leave bread crumbs that someone else can follow.  My information for this post comes from James's will in Mercer County, Kentucky, census records of Mercer county, and a book of Mercer County marriages found on Internet Archives.

James Allen, son of James and Sarah Crowdas Allen, was born in Goochland County, Virginia in 1769.  He married Tabath or Tabitha Parrish, daughter of Moses and Mary Hill Parrish, on October 19, 1775 in Goochland County.  I am not sure when the couple moved to Mercer County, Kentucky, but they were in Mercer County in the 1810 census, and their last son states on later census that his birthplace was Kentucky.  James still was paying taxes in 1815 in Virginia, and if he had rented this land to someone, he would have had a source of income while settling into his Kentucky home.  James may not have owned any land when he died, as he gave directions in his will that his land in Virginia be sold for the benefit of his wife and that personal property both in Virginia and Kentucky be sold and used for the benefit of his children. 

I don't know the birth order of the children, so I will mention them in the order of the will, except the daughter was listed last, and she is already married.  So she clearly belongs earlier in the list, and she was probably either the first or second barn.  I've placed her as the second born but that may not be correct.  According to the 1810 census, there was were five males under the age of 10, one 10-16, one female 10-16, and a male and female each in the 26-45 year category. 

James is listed first in the will.  He was James P (perhaps for Parrish?), and he was married to Jane Glazebrook on September 28, 1824.  Either a Yancy or a Nancy Glazebrook gave permission, but I haven't been able yet to trace the Glazebrook family.  On the 1850 census, the following are probably their children: Robert, Tabitha, Joseph, Charles, Jane, James, and possibly another Jane, or possibly this is a different name (the writing is hard to read).  There may be other children, also, for there is an 8 year gap between Robert and Tabitha, and those children, if any, would have been old enough to possibly be out on their own.  Tabitha Allen, aged 76, is also a member of the household.  This would be James's mother.  I haven't found her in the 1860 census, so she may have died during this time.  

Eliza was born about 1800, and at the time James wrote his will in 1820, she was Eliza Vandavier, according to the spelling in the will. Eliza Vandevere is found in the 1850 census in district one of Mercer County, with five presumed daughters living with her-Mary, Ellen, Justina, Nancy, and Elizabeth.  Mary is 32 and Elizabeth is 18, with Justina being the youngest at the age of 5.  So her husband, as yet unidentified, may have died sometime after 1844, or this being 1850, it's possible that he was in California.  Also, it may be that Mary was not a daughter to Eliza, because James in his 1820 will uses the phrase "making her children equal if she should have any". Perhaps Mary was a step-daughter.  There is also the possibility that Justine is Mary's daughter, which would make sense if the Eliza Vandovier in the 1840 census is also our Eliza.  Husband may have died prior to the 1840 census.  In the 1840 census, is one male 16-19, three females 10-14, three aged 15-19, and Eliza, aged 40-49. Interestingly, there is a Henry "Vaneliver" in the 1830 census, just three names below that of Tabitha Allen, whose family includes a female of the right age to be Eliza, and includes one male aged 5-9, two females 5-9, and 3 females 10-14, indicating that Henry and wife, possibly Eliza, had been married at least 10 years.  Henry is single in the 1840 census, so it's possible that there was a separation or divorce. Clearly more research is needed. 

Isaac Allen is the next son.  I am not sure I have located him at all, until 1850, when he is living in the household of William Allen.  The census shows him as being seven years older than William, his presumed brother.  Where was he prior to this?

Moses is the next son mentioned in the will.  I've found him in the 1830 census, in Perryville, Mercer County. with a wife and one son under the age of 5.  I have not found him in Mercer County after that date.  There is a man by that name, and aged 10 years, in Daviess County, Indiana in 1840 and again in 1850.  In 1850 he is 48, his wife is Lucinda, and presumed children are Benjamin, John, Mary, Hiram, Zeporah, Elizabeth, and Susan.  I do not know whether this is our Moses or not.  The only jarring note in the census is that he was born in Ohio (or someone thought he was), and I don't know that our Allen family was ever in Ohio.

John Allen is the next listed son.  I have found nothing I can positively identify as being our John.  There is a John Allen in Harrodsburg, Mercer County in the 1830 census, who is one of two males aged 20-29.  Also in the household is a male under the age of 5, a female 20-29, and, sadly, a male slave under the age of 10.  I have no idea whether this is our John or not, but the age and location make it a possible match.  There is a John who married Cynthia McAfee, daughter of John McAfee, on 10/16/1822, but again, I can't say for certain this is our John.  

William Allen is next.   Per the 1850 census he was 43 years old, and his wife was Ellen.  I found a William Allen who married Eleanor Robards on June 27, 1829.  Did she go by the name of Ellen?  J Robards is one of the witnesses to James's will, so there may or may not be a connection there.  At any rate, William's children in the 1850 census are James, Jesse, Sarah, and William.  As mentioned above, Isaac was also in the household at this time. There is a William Allen of the right age, single, in the 1870 census in Daviess County, Missouri.  That is where Archibald Allen was in 1870, so there is a good possibility that the two youngest sons of James and Tabitha ended up living near each other.

And finally, there is Archibald.  He was born about 1809, in Kentucky, and married Margaret J. Dunn, daughter of Lemuel and Sarah Campbell Dunn on March 12, 1834 in Mercer County.  Their known children are John, George, Robert, Harriet, Susan, and Sarah.  I will write more of this family in my next post.  

This post has a lot of suppositions, and may or may not be correct.  As mentioned earlier, my hope is that this will help some other Allen family members, and that someone will contact me at happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom with additional information.  

A side note: A James Allen from Mercer County fought with the Confederates in the Civil War.  William's son James would have been about 21 when the war began.  If the two James are the same, then Archibald's son George and William's son James, first cousins, would have been on opposite sides of the war.  We know George was at the battle of Perryville.  Was James?